Local Author Holds CFL Stallions Reunion

– photo courtesy of McFarland & Company-
Local author and Essex resident Ron Snyder helped organize a special reunion in Baltimore sports history. He was able to get members of the Baltimore Stallions together for a reunion over the weekend.

The Baltimore Stallions were a mid 1990s Canadian Football League team that was the first and only American team to win the Grey Cup (CFL Championship).

Snyder wrote a book about the team called “The Baltimore Stallions: The Brief, Brilliant History of the Cfl Champion Franchise”. The team was a CFL expansion team in 1994 and they would last only two seasons as the NFL Cleveland Browns moved to the area in 1996 to become the Baltimore Ravens.

“People forgot about the Stallions when the Ravens came to town. There are some people that were not born yet,” Snyder explained on why he wanted to write the book. “People that didn’t live through [the CFL era] do not understand it.”

For this virtual reunion, which commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Grey Cup win, Snyder was able to get key Stallion legends as such running back Mike Pringle, quarterback Tracy Ham, cornerback Irv Smith, pass rusher Elfrid Payton and many more. He was also joined by former Stallion owner Jim Speros.

According to Snyder, he wanted to have a reunion in the area, but those plans were derailed with the restrictions of COVID-19.

-video courtesy of www.facebook.com/ron.snyder.142-
https://www.facebook.com/ron.snyder.142/videos/10219306529948947/

The new plan was to have an online reunion and it took place on Saturday, June 27.

Snyder was able to get the players to share the memories of their time with the Stallions. Snyder pointed out that when the Ravens arrived in 1996, there was no room for both CFL and NFL teams and the Stallions’ era came to an abrupt end.

“A lot fans did not get a chance to say ‘thank you’ to the players and the players never had a chance to say ‘thank you’ to the fans,” Snyder said. “We wanted to get everyone together.”

To purchase Snyder’s book, go to https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-baltimore-stallions/ and it is available at local book stores.

Snyder also has written the book A Season to Forget: The Story of the 1988 Baltimore Orioles